MUSC Hollings Cancer Center Announces Affiliation with Carolina Regional Cancer Center.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- In a joint announcement, The Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) in Charleston and Carolina Regional Cancer Center (CRCC) in Myrtle Beach released details today about a formal affiliation between the two healthcare providers that will introduce and extend the Hollings Cancer Center research network and their multidisciplinary cancer care approach to Horry County.

The affiliation represents a tremendous step forward for cancer care in the area, immediately enhancing the abilities of local physicians and area hospitals, and establishing the highest standards of patient care and treatment therapies possible. According to Dr. Andrew Kraft, Director of the Hollings Cancer Center, "The affiliation will benefit both groups and improve the level of cancer care for patients in Horry County and all of South Carolina."

As a twenty-five year cancer care provider and the only radiation oncology treatment facility in Horry County, CRCC was the obvious partner MUSC considered for the cooperative arrangement in Horry County. CRCC Medical Director Dr. Steve Bass is excited about the new resources the affiliation provides. "This is a major milestone. We will now have the platform from which independent area physician groups can meet, discuss, and review each patient's medical situation in a multidisciplinary clinic approach. We will conduct a comprehensive analysis and present state of the art treatment options appropriate for each patient. The nation's top academic institutions follow this model and it's the ideal way for patients to be treated in any community", said Dr. Bass.

The participating physicians will establish multidisciplinary teams and tumor boards, and will participate in multidisciplinary case conferences to develop individualized treatment plans for patients. More that 150 MUSC faculty - clinicians and researchers - lead the patient care and research into application at the Hollings Cancer Center. They will work with CRCC physicians and other physician affiliates to ensure that a full complement of expertise is available in Horry County. CRCC's physicians and technical staff will meet regularly with the Hollings Cancer Center physicians and staff to review current treatment modalities. Carolina Regional Cancer Center will lead in development of multidisciplinary physician groups subject to standards generally attained only in academic institutions. A strict quality assurance program will follow regional and national trends in quality levels for oncology services.

Every CRCC patient will also have access to the latest therapies via clinical trials, regardless of financial status or other factors. Surprisingly, less than three percent of adult cancer patients participate in clinical trials nationally. It is the goal of the Hollings Research Network, launched last year, to more than double these percentages within the state in the next several years. CRCC joins MUSC and five other community hospitals or practices in South Carolina in the network to enroll patients in national group trials and innovative clinical trials developed by Hollings Cancer Center researchers. Patients may enroll in clinical trials developing a variety of disease-specific treatment protocols.

In addition to the many internal changes the Affiliation Agreement will mean for CRCC, it will also include a noticeable external sign as well. CRCC's Myrtle Beach facility will now display the MUSC and Hollings Cancer Center names in its signage and marketing jointly with the CRCC name. Said Dr. Steve Bass, "We are proud to have the MUSC and Hollings Cancer Center names linked to Carolina Regional Cancer Center. It is a public reminder to our patients that they will receive the same quality cancer care here in Myrtle Beach as they would at the Medical University of South Carolina/ Hollings Cancer Center."

A luncheon/media event announcing the Affiliation is scheduled for March 23, 2006, at 12:30 pm, at the offices of Carolina Regional Cancer Center. Senator Ernest Hollings plans to comment on the benefits of the association as well as HCC/MUSC top officials and CRCC physicians. Invitees include Governor Sanford, U.S. Senators Lindsay Graham and Jim DeMint, U. S. Representative Henry Brown, State Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, the Horry County Legislative Delegation and other local leaders. Other media, area physicians and hospital administrators are also expected to attend. Please RSVP to Collins Wakefield, Chief Financial Officer of CRCC at 843-449-9415.

About Carolina Regional Cancer Center

Carolina Regional Cancer Center is a health care facility that provides comprehensive radiotherapeutic services and treatments. The Center has been providing high quality cancer care for over twenty-five years. The state of the art center is located at 4708 Oleander Drive, Myrtle Beach, S.C. It is staffed by four physicians--R. Steve Bass, MD, Clinical Director and past chief resident at the Medical University of South Carolina, Todd Williams, MD, a clinical assistant professor of radiation oncology at MUSC, Paul G. Goetowski, MD, associate clinical professor at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and Stephen F. Andrews, D.O. a recent graduate from the prestigious Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Bass also serves on the Hollings Cancer Citizens' Advisory Board. For additional information regarding CRCC, please see our website www.CRCCmd.com.

About the Hollings Cancer Center

Hollings offers state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities, therapies and surgical techniques and has multidisciplinary clinics that involve surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation therapists, radiologists, pathologists, psychologists and many other specialists seeing patients simultaneously under one roof. Multidisciplinary care is provided in disease specific clinics such as thoracic, breast, head & neck, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, hematologic, neuro, and pediatric cancers. In 2004 the HCC diagnosed and/or treated more than 1,947 new cancer patients, the largest cancer care provider in the state.

The Hollings Cancer Center is the largest academic-based cancer program in South Carolina. The Hollings Cancer Center is currently funded as a developing National Cancer Institute designated cancer center and has more than $27M in cancer research funding. More than 1,000 people are currently participating on a cancer clinical trial at Hollings.